[hutzlibu]

I never did a text based game, but I would argue, that a good engine there could help a lot with structure. And there seem to be a lot engines, a short search suggested.

And maybe no, not every game needs its own engine, but after a while you could probably extract a game engine out of every game. Whether thats worth it, usually depends on the success of the game ..

[xg15]

Makes sense, but then "engine" is really just a different term for what you'd call "framework" in the rest of the IT industry. And you can find more or less the same debate about what makes a good framework, whether you need one at all, etc in non-game parts of IT.

However, I agree with the OP that there are certain low-level components that are common in most games and that you'd therefore expect when choosing an engine. I'd argue that you'll at the very least want to have a game loop (or engine loop), processing of player inputs, a renderer (even if it just renders 2D sprites), and probably audio output. That usually implies you have some sort of assets that have to be managed, even if those are just bitmaps and wav files.

All of this reminds me of the discussions about what makes a game, which are common in academic research about computer games. When one mentions "computer game", I'd argue, most of us immediately have a certain mental image, usually strongly influenced by AAA games. But technically, you could also just hand your player a folder of text files that they have to navigate through in "choose your own adventure" style - and you have a "computer game" without even having a program at all.

[hutzlibu]

"argue that you'll at the very least want to have a game loop (or engine loop), processing of player inputs, a renderer (even if it just renders 2D sprites), and probably audio output. That usually implies you have some sort of assets that have to be managed,"

Yeah, I agree those are the features I would expect from a common game engine. Maybe with some DB as well.

Otherwise yes, a game engine is just a special framework in my opinion. And you always have to choose the right tool for the job.

"you could also just hand your player a folder of text files that they have to navigate through in "choose your own adventure" style - and you have a "computer game" without even having a program at all. "

And I think someone here recently just published that, as a game to learn bash..